1920s and Prohibition Great Depression and Dust Bowl 1960s and public protests (Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam)

By carter16

  • Congress passes the 18th Amendment, which would restrict the manufacture and sale of alcohol. States are given seven years to ratify the measure.

  • 18th Amendment is ratified

    when Nebraska becomes 36th state to bar the “manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes”; 46 of 48 states eventually support prohibition, with Connecticut and Rhode Island as the only holdouts. (Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states.)

  • congress passes the 19th amendment

    to give women the right to vote; ratified by the states on Aug. 18, 1920. Women were instrumental in the temperance movement.

  • Wartime Prohibition Act takes effect,

    restricting the sale of beverages containing more than 2.75% alcohol.

  • Commonly referred to at the time as June “Thirsty-First” —

    the first day after wartime prohibition started.

  • Congress overrides President Woodrow Wilson’s veto of the National Prohibition Act,

    commonly called the Volstead Act, which makes it illegal to manufacture beverages with more than a half-percent of alcohol and provides enforcement of the 18th Amendment. It is named for Andrew Volstead, a Minnesota Republican who served as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and introduced the bill.

  • The united states goes dry

    shutting down the countries 5th largest industry

  • wall street crash begins

    making the great depression

  • Severe drought hits the Midwestern and Southern Plains

    As the crops die, the “black blizzards” begin. Dust from the over-plowed and over-grazed land begins to blow.

  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president

    to end Prohibition.

  • The number of dust storms is increasing.

    Fourteen are reported this year; next year there will be 38.

  • Over 6 million young pigs are slaughtered to stabilize prices.

    With most of the meat going to waste, public outcry will lead to the creation, in October, of the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation. The FSRC will divert agricultural commodities to relief organizations. Apples, beans, canned beef, flour and pork products will be distributed through local relief channels. Cotton goods are eventually included to clothe the needy as well.

  • When Franklin Roosevelt takes office, the country is in desperate straits

    He will take quick steps to declare a four-day bank holiday, during which time Congress will come up with the Emergency Banking Act of 1933, which stabilizes the banking industry and restores people’s faith in the banking system by putting the federal government behind it.

  • The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act allots $200 million for refinancing mortgages to help farmers facing foreclosure.

    The Farm Credit Act of 1933 establishes a local bank and sets up local credit associations.

  • The Civilian Conservation Corps opens the first soil erosion control camp in Clayton County, Alabama.

    . By September there will be 161 soil erosion camps.

  • In California’s San Joaquin Valley, where many farmers fleeing the plains have gone seeking migrant farm work, the largest agricultural strike in America’s history begins.

    More than 18,000 cotton workers with the Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (CAWIU ) strike for 24 days. During the strike, two men and one woman are killed and hundreds injured. In the settlement, the union is recognized by growers, and workers are given a 25 percent raise.

  • 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition is ratified.

  • Great dust storms spread from the Dust Bowl area.

    he drought is the worst ever in U.S. history, covering more than 75 percent of the country and affecting 27 states severely.

  • Roosevelt signs the Taylor Grazing Act

    , which allows him to take up to 140 million acres of federally-owned land out of the public domain and establish grazing districts that will be carefully monitored. One of many New Deal efforts to heal the damage done to the land by overuse, the program is able to arrest the deterioration but cannot undo the damage that has already been done.

  • The federal government forms a Drought Relief Service to coordinate relief activities.

    The DRS buys cattle in counties that are designated emergency areas, for $14 to $20 a head.

  • Viet Cong Emerge

    An armed coalition of communists and insurgents emerge in South Vietnam.

  • U.S. Gets Tough

    New in office, President Johnson pushes for stiffer policies on Vietnam.

  • U.S. Buildup Begins

    White Paper advises increased U.S. presence in Vietnam.

  • U.S. Will Fire Back

    Kennedy declares U.S. advisers in 'Nam will defend themselves.

  • $2 Billion Wasted

    Kennedy hears from Senate leader after Saigon trip to see outcome of U.S. aid.

  • U.S. Navy Arrives

    After North Vietnam goes into Laos, U.S. moves 2 carriers offshore.

  • Coup in Saigon

    South Vietnam military sets up third government in three months

  • Operation "Rolling Thunder" Begins

    Johnson approves Rolling Thunder in February, believing that a program of limited bombing in North Vietnam will deter support for Vietcong. Rolling Thunder continues for three years and eight months, involving 305,380 raids and 634,000 tons of bombs. Results include: 818 pilots killed and hundreds more captured; 182,000 civilians killed in North Vietnam.

  • Gulf of Tonkin

    The USS Maddox is on spy patrol 30 miles off the coast of Vietnam when it reports an attack by three enemy vessels. Another U.S. ship reports an attack on Aug 4. (Later inquiries will cast doubt on both reports.) On Aug 7, Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, allowing Pres. Johnson to wage war against North Vietnam without a formal Declaration of War.

  • First Anti-Vietnam War Teach-In

    Anti-war faculty members and the SDS publicize and protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam. About 3,000 attend.